


Familiarity, Choice, Duty

by NanoTwentyFaces



Category: RWBY
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, What-If, written pre-Volume 7 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22474636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NanoTwentyFaces/pseuds/NanoTwentyFaces
Summary: (Written before the Volume 7 finale)Ironwood has made his choice, one Oscar doesn't agree with. When he can't talk down the General, Oscar finds himself locked inside the vault, the choice left up to him to decide Atlas' fate. But what it the right choice? What should he do? He doesn't know.In a room that is between realms,it luckily grants him a visit from someone who is familiar, yet he's never met before, to help him understand.
Relationships: Pyrrha Nikos & Oscar Pine, Pyrrha Nikos & Ozpin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 80





	1. Locked in

**Author's Note:**

> Just thinking about how the effect of the inside of the vault matched the between realm where Ozma spoke to the God of Light gave me this idea, and how we've had a Pyrrha appearance in each volume since 3 so far except for 7. 
> 
> Definitely not canon, as written right before the Volume 7 finale, but just a fun what-if scenario.

“General!” Oscar bounded off the elevator before it even stopped at the bottom, running to catch up to Ironwood, Winter at his side. 

Both turned, reaching for their weapons out of instinct at the shout. The vault was open behind them. Winter dropped her hand once she saw it was Oscar, but Ironwood’s hand remained on his gun, peering at him. 

“Oscar,” Winter stepped towards him as he came closer, “it’s good you're here, is the lamp safe?”

He stopped in front of them, hand moving over the lamp on his hip, glancing at Ironwood who had his eyes narrowed watching him. “Yes,” he finally answered after taking a few deep breaths, “I have it. A girl named Neopolitan tried to take it, but the others are holding her off. They told me to find you.” He turned his head towards Ironwood, wary. “Sir…?”

The General didn’t move. “Salem is coming. We don’t have any other choice right now. We have to keep Winter and the relics as far from her reach as possible. Cinder Fall already tried going after her, Penny was able to hold her off long enough for Winter to complete the transfer process and escape.” Oscar didn’t miss the flash of sadness, or regret, across Winter’s face. 

“Sir…..” He began, clutching at the relic. He needed to choose his words carefully right now, the others had warned him about Ironwood’s plans and them all being under arrest right now. “Is this really necessary? Is this really what we have to do? Isn’t there another way? A way we could figure out together?”

He moved to face Oscar fully, his shoulders slacked slightly, but his hand remained atop his gun. He surely noticed how Oscar’s eyes kept flicking to it. “There is no other choice.” He spoke slowly. “I appreciate your honesty with me before, but the others all betrayed my trust in keeping the secrets they did, and now those choices have led us to be left completely vulnerable and on the verge of destruction. To keep my people safe, this is what has to be done.”

“Your people are also the ones still down in Mantle!” Oscar shot back. “And you’re leaving them to die after promising to save them tonight!”

Ironwood sighed, gritting his teeth. “I did. And I am keeping that promise, by saving who we can.” His voice turned low. “That’s war, Oscar. You can’t save everyone, and not everyone is going to make it back. There’s nothing else we can do now.”

“There’s plenty of things that we can do!” Oscar raised his voice, stepping a foot forward. “There always is! Your duty as a General, and as a huntsman is to protect the people of Remnant with your life. That means _everyone_ ! No matter what! And we can do that _together_ , if you would actually let someone help you!”

“I did let you help me! All of you! And look at where that got us!”

“Because you can’t let anyone question your actions. You talk about needing us to trust you and follow all your orders when you couldn’t even do that at Beacon!” 

Ironwood flinched. So did Winter. For a moment the grip on his gun slacked. He blinked, shaking his head, before the grip returned. “Oz should have listened to me. If he would have, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”

“Neither of us can know that.” Oscar narrowed his eyes up him. “I don’t have all his memories. And he kept all those secrets. But you can’t just assume that your way of blind obedience is going to just work against Salem! She’s already using it against you! Sometimes as a leader you have to be questioned about your choices, so that’s what i’m doing now when I say that you shouldn’t be doing this!”

“I was hoping you would be the one person to understand….” Ironwood’s voice was low, closing his eyes and looking down. Oscar saw his hand move, lifting the gun. 

“Sir-!” Winter reached out as he snapped the gun up, firing a shot at him. Oscar jumped out of the way between Ironwood and Winter, rolling to his knees, finding the General pointing his pistol at him again. Winter stood between the two on the side, unsure what to do. 

“Hand over the lamp, Oscar.” His tone now dark. “I don’t have time to ask you twice.”

“Sir,” Winter took a step into the center, “he’s just a child….”

“Winter!” He barked, not taking his eyes off Oscar, cutting her off, stopping her advancement. Her eyes flashed to Oscar. 

Oscar narrowed his eyes, standing up, hand moving to over the lamp. The General didn’t waiver, waiting. 

They read each other in that second. Ironwood firing another shot as Oscar’s hand shot to the cane, pulling it forward and deflecting the shot, running up the stairs to the door. More shots nipped at his heels as he reached the top, running inside. 

“Sir, wait!” He stole a glance back at Winter trying to stop Ironwood from moving forward, reloading his gun, only to be brushed aside. He readied his cane, as Ironwood started up the steps, until suddenly a black glyph appeared below his feet, holding him in place. 

“Schnee!” He growled, trying to break free of the gravity. 

Suddenly the whole room shook as a shockwave rushed through. Winter and Ironwood turned towards the lift. It lay destroyed in a heap of flames, and above it, Cinder floated down slowly. 

“You can’t escape me that easily, girl.” She cooed, flexing the fingers on her grimm arm. 

Winter took a step back in fear, holding up her sword, her eyes flicked between the three of them. Ironwood has turned his attention now to Cinder, standing up as the glyph faded, firing his gun. “Winter, get back!”

Winter jumped back onto the top of the steps behind Ironwood. 

“Get to the relic! Use it and raise Atlas!” Ironwood ordered. “Lock yourself in if you have to, I’ll hold her off!”

“But, General, you’ll-”

“That’s an order, Winter! Do as I say!” He kept firing, Cinder flicking away the shots as she moved forward. 

Winter looked down, her eyes flicking back and forth, they raised to Oscar for a moment. He blinked, reading her expression.

“I’m sorry, sir…..” She said. She raised her hand to the door, pressing against it. Suddenly it clicked and whirred, the gold edges starting to reappear and close, with Oscar still inside. 

Ironwood glanced over his shoulder. “Winter, what are you-”

She looked to Oscar, frozen in place. She didn’t say it out loud, but he could hear it in her eyes. _I’m trusting you to make the right choice_. 

“No!” Oscar shouted, rushing forward. 

The door shut, sealing him off from the other side. The last sight being Winter’s face. He banged on the door as he reached it. “No!” They couldn’t face Cinder alone. Ironwood was still injured and Winter had just become the maiden. He banged at the door, as if trying to will it open, sinking to his knees when it remained closed. He couldn’t even hear anything from outside. 

Lifting his head, he looked around at the room. Was it even a room? He looked out at the sand stretching out far beyond him with a white sky. A path of giant brown stones laid before him, and at the end floating above a small stone, was the staff. He squinted, everything looking like it was fuzzy or dissolving? Like pieces of the walkway and the staff were floating away endlessly. 

He slowly walked forward towards the staff. He could feel the lamp pulsing at his side, as he reached it. It was bigger than he thought, but at the same time it was a familiar sight. This whole room was familiar in a way. He reached up a hand to the staff, but stopped. Shaking, his hand hovered in front of the staff. 

His brows furrowed, lips trembling. What should he do? Does he use it? Does he take it? What did Winter want him to do by locking him in here to make the choice? What choice should he make? He blinked rapidly, his breathing quickening, tears pricking at the edges of his eyes. Breaking away, he whipped around, curling to his knees, gripping at his sleeve. 

“I don’t know what to do!” He cried out, moving his hands to hold his head. 

He sat, crouched there, only the silent yet loud looming of the vault answering him. He sniffled, choking in breaths, not noticing the footsteps softly crunching in the sand behind him. A presence emanating, and tickling at the back of his neck. 

It spoke; soft and peaceful. “Hello, again.”


	2. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oscar speaks with the familiar, yet unknown woman that's appeared before him. 
> 
> Perhaps she can give him some guidance.

Oscar gasped, falling over as he spun around, clutching Long Memory in his hand. 

The stranger gave a small gasp themselves, a hand coming up to their mouth before letting out a small giggle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Oscar looked up at them. A girl. She was tall, wearing brown boots and stockings up to her knees, a brown skirt with a long red sash tied overtop of it reaching the floor, a gold and brown corset, brown gloves, and a gold choker with a vibrant green jewel in the middle. He blinked, reaching her face. She had just as equally vibrant green eyes, and long red hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her eyes seemed to smile at him just as much as her face. They resonated kindness, strength, but also something somber. 

Her hands folded together in front of her, watching him. Oscar realized he’d been staring. Swallowing, he scrambled up, brushing off the sand, glancing at her nervously. 

“Who are you?” He finally spoke. Though something told him that she meant no harm, he still kept space between them, watching her. “You…...I’ve never met you, but at the same time, you look familiar…..”

She simply smiled warmly at him again, tilting her head. “We’ve never met before. But a familiarity should be expected.” 

“How did you get here?” Oscar asked, his shoulders loosening. “The only door here is locked and only the maiden can open it? You haven’t been here this whole time have you?”

“No.” She answered, a twinkle in her eye. “I was called here. At this moment.”

“Called?” Oscar tilted his head. “By who?”

“No one really. More like…..a feeling.”

“A feeling?” He blinked at her. Every answer she gave, just gave him more questions.

She just kept smiling. Like an understanding mother, that was the feeling she gave off looking down at him as he asked her each question. She took a step forward, coming closer to him. 

“That help was needed.” She bent down to meet his eyes. “It seems like you need some.”

Oscar looked down, biting his lip. The tears from before returned, pricking at his eyes. “I don’t know what to do….Whatever I do now, i’m responsible for what happens to Atlas and everyone else. What General Ironwood wants to do I know isn’t the right choice, there has to be another way, but now that i’m here, I don’t know what to do!” He squeezes his eyes shut, gripping at his hair. “I don’t know what the right choice is! I don’t want anyone else to die!”

Hands gently took his, easing them out of his hair and back down. He opened his eyes, looking at her again. Her smile now spoke with compassion, empathy, and understanding.

“You’re very young. You don’t have much experience with this.”

“I’m supposed to.” He muttered. “With who I am now, I’m supposed to have the experience and know what to do. General Ironwood wanted to look to me for answers, but with everything that’s happened, I can’t give him the ones that he wants.”

“Most of the time we can’t give people the answers they want.” She held his hands, placing her other hand over them. “But we have to give them the answers they  _ need _ .”

“But what  _ is _ the answer here?” Oscar moved away from her, slipping his hands from here, stepping around her towards the staff. “I don’t know what answer is needed to save everyone right now. We’re trying to do what’s best. But what’s best and what’s right? Which choice do we make that’s both of those for everyone?”

She followed, coming to stand beside him. “It’s not a matter of which or what.” She stated, staring straight ahead at the relic. 

“What do you mean?” Oscar looked over at her, studying her face. Her ponytail flapped behind her though he could feel no wind in here; it was almost ghost-like. Her smile had disappeared, her expression hardened, but still steady. She took a breath, closing her eyes for a moment, before stepping in front of and facing him again. 

“You are a huntsman.” She began. “You train and fight to protect the people of Remnant with your life.”

“Yes.” Oscar said. “But Salem is so powerful. What if we aren’t strong enough, or ever will be?”

“Humanity is a resilient force.” She stated, folding her hands again. “Man was born from dust, and lit their way through the darkness, against everything that stood in their way. That resilience will always be stronger than anything.”

Oscar looked down at the ground, his thoughts whirring. A hand lifted his head back up, gently, to look at her. Her smile had returned. 

“As a huntsman, you have a duty. To uphold that resilience in continuing to light the way, by protecting the people, the world.”

“I want to.” Oscar answered her. “I want to protect them, but how?”

“Do you believe in destiny, Oscar?”

He blinked, he breath caught in his throat for a moment, looking away for a moment, thinking. “I….I don’t know. With everything that’s happened to me, I’m not sure if I do. I was told I had an opportunity for greatness, but  _ is  _ that my destiny?” He glanced up, he could tell the answer wasn’t satisfying her, she was waiting, she knew there was more. “But…...now with the past weeks, I want to change things. I don’t know what my destiny is….but there is something that I want to do and will fight to make that happen.”

She closed her eyes, letting out a breath, her lip twitching in a bigger smile. 

“But that still doesn’t answer what I should do now.” He continued. “Just because I want to do that, doesn’t mean I’ll make the right choice now.” He turned away from her, walking a few steps away. 

She followed, but stayed behind him this time. “There really isn’t a choice.” Oscar raised his head up, but not looking back at her, listening. “There isn’t a choice of what’s best and what’s right. It’s not a matter of which or what.” She paused. “You just have a duty. A duty to try and save them, to protect them. The actions you take is how you represent that duty.”

Oscar glanced down at Long Memory in his hand. A hand rested on his shoulder for a moment, he could feel her smiling down at him again. It reminded him of just how familiar her presence was, why? Her words, her kindness, her eyes, the heart she bore on her sleeve, it all was so familiar. She’d never answered him before about who she was or how she even got here. Who was she? And why did a pain in his chest keep growing each time she spoke?

“How did you know my name?” He finally asked. 

“From a long memory.” She answered after a pause. 

“But who  _ are _ you?” Oscar rubbed at his face. “I  _ know _ you, but I don’t!”

“It’s alright.” Her hand left his shoulder. “I’m just happy that I could be here to help you in this moment.” He could hear her stepping away, her heels on the stone, and into the sand. “Until we meet in another world.”

He blinked rapidly. It was there. What did she mean by that? The pain in his chest was there, telling him something. He knew her. He knew her. Red hair. Red hair and green eyes. That kindness. Her voice. When he first saw her, something was missing. Her head. Her head was missing something. Something that should be there. And every time they spoke she had been waiting for something. But it seemed like she’d given up on it by the end, accepted? Her footsteps were growing farther away, and quieter. 

Then it hit him. 

He whipped around, reaching out. “Pyrrha!”

Only she was gone. No trace of her in the wide-stretching sand. There, fluttering in the air towards him, past the staff and in front of him, brushing his outstretched hand before disintegrating like the sand around him: an orange-red leaf. Tears dripped out of his eyes, streaking down his cheeks into his hand and the ground. Pyrrha Nikos. And it wasn’t just him she’d been talking to. She was speaking to both him and Ozpin. She knew. 

Rubbing his eyes, Oscar took a deep breath. She’d come to him for a reason. He understood. Everything she’d said. Not the answer he wanted, but the one he needed.

Stepping forward he reached for the Staff of Creation, taking it in his hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> I tried writing Pyrrha's dialogue as being vague like she can't just outright tell Oscar who she is and how she's able to be there. 
> 
> Feedback and comments are always welcome!~

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to divide this story into two parts as the set-up ended up longer that I initially as wanting to make it believable. It's already obvious who it is though that's with Oscar ;)
> 
> (Part 2 will be up shortly)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Feedback and comments are always welcome!~


End file.
